A Work Session discussing the American Rescue Plan Act Funding
By Paul Hall on Thursday, July 1st, 2021 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – The La Grande City Council met in a Work Session on June 28, 2021, to begin discussing how to use the American Rescue Plan Act funding. The State has not yet requested the ARPA funds and therefore the City has not received the first allocation of funding. Additionally, there are a number of State and Federal funding initiatives in various stages of development, including grant requests submitted by the City to both the State and Feds. It may be prudent to wait on final decisions on how to use ARPA funds until we have additional information regarding the pending grant requests and new programs that have not been finalized.
The Council expressed a desire to identify uses of the funds that will have a significant, long-term benefit for the community. Much of the discussion centered on using the most flexible funds for street projects and using the remaining funding for eligible water and sewer projects that would have the most bang for the buck. They also wanted to make certain that we not rule out eligible uses if there are some smaller projects that could be funded that would make a huge impact.
Of the $3 million in ARPA funds expected, close to $1 million will ultimately be available for use as “replacement revenue” to offset the reduction in revenues due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. These funds are the most flexible and could be used for any governmental purpose. The replacement revenue is mostly confined to the City’s General Fund, Street and Road Fund, and a small amount in Urban Renewal. The intent would be to retain the funds in the Street and Road Fund and in Urban Renewal, and only consider the General Fund replacement revenue for other governmental uses. A small amount has already been committed to providing utility assistance through Community Connections. The Council supported using the replacement funds to address City streets with specific projects to be identified later.
The Council supported taking a deliberate approach to determine how best to spend the funds and expressed a desire to have an opportunity for the public to review specific projects prior to final approval. The Council also asked that Staff schedule a meeting for September to review potential projects related to Water, Sewer, and Streets. The Council did not rule out other uses for the funding, but the consensus was to identify specific projects/uses that exceed the available funding that would then be prioritized with public input.
The Council agreed that taking a “backward planning approach” made sense, where the timeline to complete a given project is identified with a deadline of December 31, 2024, for completion and project closeout, and then working backward to determine the latest date the decision must be made. This prevents projects not being completed by the APRA funding deadline and also allows for better planning.
Given there are still a variety of funding requests being finalized at the State and Federal levels, the Council agreed that before final decisions were made on ARPA funded project, the City should attempt to maximize the use of those potential funding.
The City has also requested funding for projects that are still pending that may be candidates for ARPA funding and knowing whether or not they are funded prior to making final decisions will be important. This also applies to any grant applications for current or planned street projects.
It was noted that Streets and Housing were two high priorities of the City Council and that these, along with the other priorities identified during the annual Retreat should be taken into consideration moving forward to identify any projects that qualify for ARPA funds.
As mentioned above, the Council intends to engage the public in the review of proposed projects to help determine what will be funded. The specific timing and format are to be determined, but most likely it will be some type of a forum with projects on display that can be reviewed and commented on.
Given the City will receive a total of $3 million over two years, for the FY 2022-23 allocation the Budget Committee will have a role when they approve the budget. There was some discussion about limiting the expenditure of the 2021-22 funds to the amount received even though the adopted budget would allow for $2 million to be expended.
It was noted that projects in La Grande will also provide a benefit to Union County, particularly those that would provide for increased housing development and increased building given the current housing shortage that impacts the region. Some of the projects discussed would be within the Urban Growth Boundary, and not just City limits. Partnering with the County on larger projects that provide benefits to the entire County would make sense. We will coordinate with the County on how to engage moving forward. The City Council would like a meeting in September to review potential projects and programs, identify grant/other funding source opportunities, and discuss in more detail the public input process with an eye towards a decision late fall on projects.
